WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom’s headlines from 18:00 GMT, July 14, 2017 to 08:00 GMT, July 15, 2017.

Qatar-Saudi Arabia crisis

Qatar’s foreign minister has dismissed as baseless terror funding allegations against his country by Saudi Arabia and some Arab states. Qatari foreign minister Mohammed bin Abdurrahman Al Thani made the comments during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart. On the Turkish base in Qatar, Thani said no country is allowed to raise the issue or the military cooperation between Qatar and Turkey as long as it respects international law. Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, for his part, said demands that Turkey’s base in Qatar be closed go against both countries' sovereignty. He added that the Turkish president will soon be visiting Arab countries in the region to help resolve the dispute through dialog. Last month, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed an embargo on the country, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Egypt attacks

A knife-wielding assailant has killed two foreign tourists at an Egyptian holiday resort in the town of Hurghada. According to Egyptian authorities, four other tourists have been injured in the attack. The motive for the stabbing is unknown. The Egyptian Interior Ministry had initially identified the two fatally stabbed tourists as Ukrainian nationals, but it later said they were from Germany. The ministry also said preliminary investigations show that the attacker, who is in custody for interrogation, swam from a nearby beach to access the resort where he carried out the stabbing. In early 2016, three tourists were wounded in the same town in a knife attack by two assailants with suspected links to the Daesh terror group.

Syria talks

The United Nations special envoy for Syria has called the fight against UN-designated terror groups a priority in resolving the country's deadly conflict. Staffan De Mistrua was speaking at a press conference at the end of the seventh round of Syria peace talks in Geneva. De Mistura underlined the need for the full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions particularly those concerning arming and financing terrorist groups. He further reiterated that Syria’s conflict could only be solved through an inclusive political process. The Syrian government negotiators and the opposition delegation did not hold direct talks during the seventh round of talks in the Swiss city. The next round of Syria peace talks is scheduled for September.

US military spending

The US House of Representatives has approved a massive military spending bill for the year 2018 that far exceeds the dramatic increase President Donald Trump had requested. The National Defense Authorization Act proposes a military budget of nearly seven hundred billion dollars, including 75 billion dollars for funding of war. The bill nearly doubles the increase in military funding that Trump had requested for 2018. It also breaches a strict defense spending cap imposed under a 2011 law. This is a major challenge as the Senate should first increase the spending limit or repeal the spending restrictions, which is not supported by Democratic senators. The US already has the highest military spending in the world. The new budget increase serves to further expand the US military as Trump has pledged.

Condemning Israel

A massive protest has been held in the besieged Gaza Strip to condemn Israel's closure of al-Aqsa Mosque Compound. Protesters also paid homage to three Palestinians who were killed during a gunfight earlier on Friday in the al-Aqsa Mosque. Press TV correspondent Ashraf Shannon has more details in the following story from Gaza:

Setback in relations

The Cuban President has denounced US President Donald Trump's hard-line policy toward Havana, calling it a setback in the two countries’ bilateral relations. Castro told the national assembly that Havana remains open to negotiating issues of bilateral interest with the US. Former US president Barack Obama re-established diplomatic ties with Havana in 2015 and eased some restrictions on doing business with the Latin American country. Last month, Trump said he was canceling Obama's terrible deal with Cuba ordering tighter restrictions on Americans traveling to that country and limitations on US business dealings with the Cuban military.

Saudi imminent executions

A leading rights group has called on the US and the UK to stop Saudi Arabia from executing 14 people who face death based on evidence gathered under torture. London-based charity, Reprieve, said nearly all of the convictions were meted out for protest-related charges. Reprieve described the imminent executions as an extremely worrying move from the increasingly brutal regime in Saudi Arabia. The group added that the convicts included at least one juvenile and a disabled man. It said executing such people would be an appalling breach of international law. The charity stressed that Saudi Arabia was using the fight on terrorists as a pretext to sentence juveniles and protesters to death. It said Riyadh seemed to have stepped up the executions under the new Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, after 14 people were put to death earlier this week.

Controversial meeting

A former Soviet counter-intelligence official says he attended a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump's senior aides and his son last year. Rinat Akhmet-shin, now a lobbyist, says he accompanied Russian lawyer Natalia Vesel-nits-kaya accidentally after meeting her for lunch. He says Vesel-nits-kaya told Donald Trump Junior that she had the details of possible illegal funds being funneled to the Democratic National Committee. According to Akhmet-shin the lawyer failed to offer any evidence to prove the claim and Trump’s son appeared to lose interest. Trump Junior has already acknowledged that he met with the Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential campaign. US Democratic and Republican lawmakers have called for a probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Moscow has denied any links to Trump junior meeting with the Russian lawyer.

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